Now, this is cool: The San Diego Zoo has become the first U.S. zoo to be "mapped" by Google Maps' Street View tool. You now can explore all 100 acres of the acclaimed zoological park virtually. Google created the feature by using Trike, a tricycle mounted with cameras and GPS equipment.
"I began thinking about building a bicycle-based Street View system after realizing how many great places around the world aren't accessible by car, but still would be perfect to include in Street View on Google Maps," said Trike creator Dan Ratner. "Zoos are a perfect example of unique, fun and educational places that may not be included on a traditional map, and we're delighted to welcome the San Diego Zoo into Street View. We hope all their visitors, prospective visitors, and animal lovers around the world will have fun exploring this new imagery."
To see a Street View of the San Diego Zoo, enter "San Diego Zoo" at Google Maps, and then drag the yellow-figure Street View icon in the upper left corner onto the aerial view of the park.
Faces of visitors are blurred out in the San Diego Zoo application, but all of the animals and other sights are sharply detailed, as pictured below. Locally, I could see this being used not only for the Minnesota Zoo, but also national/state parks and points of interest such as the Mall of America, Valleyfair and the Metrodome. How about you?
